Easter Island

We were up bright and early to leave the hotel at around 6:00. They gave us a box breakfast and then we went down to the lobby for a quick cup of coffee. A Viking group was also picking up box breakfasts and getting on their bus to leave the hotel for their day of adventure.

Getting to the airport took about 25 minutes and we went through, dropping our checked luggage and going through security with ease.

And then we found out… Our flight was delayed for two hours. Because the flight was delayed, Latam Air gave each person the equivalent of twenty US dollars to purchase food or a beverage. We used the money to stock up on snacks to take with us to the island.

We finally boarded and I spent most of the time during the 5 hour flight reading. It was a very nice flight we were fed lunch… Pasta… But that really wasn’t that great.

We checked into our hotel and it is very nice. There is an outdoor pool and a bar and when we look out our glass sliding door to the patio, there are horses in the field.

Even though we were all pretty tired, we met our local guide and went off for our first tour of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Only Rapa Nui Islanders are allowed to own property on Easter Island and Chilean visitors and foreigners can only stay for a maximum of thirty days.

Our first stop was Ahu Akivi that looks out over the Pacific ocean. The site has 7 moai, all of equal shape and size. Moai statues were believed to be the reincarnation of important kings or leaders of their clans. The Moais were erected to protect and bring prosperity to their clan and village.

A particular feature of these seven moai statues is that they exactly face sunset during the spring equinox and have their backs to the sunrise during the autumn equinox. This astronomical phenomenon is seen only at this location on the island.

It is thought the statues were begun in the 16th century and they were restored in 1960. Historians are still trying to figure out whether the statues were carved while the stones were standing upright or whether the torsos were on the ground, the heads attached and then the statue raised with ropes.

We then visited Puna Pau which was the source of the red scoria that the Rapanui used to carve the topknots that were put on the heads of some of the iconic statues.

We climbed up a pretty steep incline (note to self: bring hiking poles tomorrow) and we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the crater and quarry where the red scoria had been carved out of.

We then had a delicious fish dinner at a restaurant. I was sorry I didn’t order the cerviche. Since our guide Jonatan wasn’t sure what the fish would be, I opted for the shrimp. The cerviche turned out to be tuna and I tasted Allan’s and it was delicious. I had the shrimp and it actually was very tasty as well. We both enjoyed a tuna steak with fries.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day so it’s an early evening.